Montana Cat Hunting

[scottb]

I'm not on here much but a couple of these discussions got my attention during the morning coffee routine. I don't hunt enough and am too dumb to think any of this hound stuff is impossible. Just have a few observations to share. My dogs rig a lot more consistently than I spot tracks in the dirt and ice so I will keep rigging with moderate success. In the 4 districts I have cat hunted I have found a lot of cats. To find them I have had to get out of my truck and do the unthinkable, walk and free cast the hounds. We do not have the road system/public access to get to all our cats from the open roads. I have to believe there are multiple hunters catching impressive #'s because I know of 2 that push the 50 mark. 1 of them rigs, not sure about the other. Cats can be caught on bare ground here consistently in good conditions. Have found that wind, sun, rocks and blowdown make my dogs look useless. Have also found that if I "help" my dogs move through tough spots when cold trailing I get more cats jumped. Scouting is key for me and the best times I have found are Nov. and May (when the gates open). As far as numbers go I am only able to hunt 0-3 days a week and I have caught 15-36 bobs/lions a season the past few years. I have no doubt if I hunted more and harder I would catch significantly more than 20 bobs a year. I have 4 completely different hounds and only 1 of them is "cat" bred.

[NICK RILEY]

Good post Scott.
I agree with everything you said. For me its been getting behind the gated roads on a snow cat. You can snow cat behind most gated roads in my area and they hold good cat numbers and little hunting pressure. I have a friend that puts up high cat numbers. He hunts hard long days, every day he can, so I know it can be done. I don't have the time or gas money but I have lots of fun and get my kids out as much as I can. For me that's what its all about.

[Big N' Blue]

Very well said by both you gentlemen!! Not alot of people have the time and resources to get the most out of dogs and I commend the ones that do and commend the ones that try to do the best they can. It is all about having fun and Keep them kids in the woods, but don't make the mistake I made!! I took mine so much that they burnt out on me!! LOL

[bigskybowhunter]

Scott I believe you are right. This is coming from and inexperienced cat hunter but someone who has hunted his whole life so take it for what it's worh. Places in montana have great numbers of cats but where I live the trappers struggle to fill a 250 cat quota in a 300 square mile area. I think more of what the discussions are about is rigging in a specific area of montana. You know how it is over here you can drive 50 miles and see mountains and then prarie and then desert. It's hard to classify the state as a whole. I believe your statements are true and can see where you could put up that many cats in certain area. We are just trying to hunt the cats we have in our "backyard" so one doesn't have to drive 100 miles to hunt every time we want to go out. You have a valid point and your post was very well stated. Good luck hunting! Josh

[buzz]

Let's hear it Twist! Could it be?

[twist]

Buzz, read my post over go back through them for yrs you might be able to understand them but doubtful! I have said my area that's east of continental divide. Also have saiswest of our divide is just like washington st. Also have never said rigging can't be done on this side of divide just not consistant. This will be the last time I will clarify what I have written as some just can't soak it in. Come for a hunt one dry weekend it would be fun! Andy

[Old dog]

andy,,you are having about as much luck getting your point across as I have trying to get my ten year old to understand chores lol. any body that has made a good rig dog knows its hard if not imposable to train one if you don't have a lot of cats near roads. and it sounds like you don't have alot of cats near roads in your area. I kinda think it was taken like you meant the state of montana by some readers.

[twist]

Old dog, you are spot on. Andy

[dhostetler]

Scott, Just to be clear you know of 2 hound hunters in Montana that catch close to 50 "bobcats" a year. I also think if you could hunt every day from Dec. 1 to Apr. 15 you could possibly catch 50 in my area but that would be a big maybe. I am sure that you can strike bobcats in Montana but how consistent? When I go to Idaho bear hunting I go to areas that I know from past experience that has good populations and I hunt them by striking. There is very seldom that I will not strike at least one bear a day and run it. My question is do you know anybody in the state that will go out on a given day and plan to "strike a bobcat" and run it and do it consistently. I have struck and treed lions out of my box but never a bobcat. What I consider true strike dogs is you turn loose on the strike and have no track and are turning loose on the fact that you trust your hounds.

[buzz]

Geez Twist you are a sensitive little bugger! I even left you a smiley face to let you know I was just messing with you! I always like to read your post and was just waiting to see what your reply was going to be to the starting post of this thread.

[buzz]

I hunt on the east side of Oregon and I think that cats on this side are harder to rig consistently than on the west side. A fair amount of the season normally is frozen solid on the east side which makes it much tougher to rig. Being snowed out of areas cuts down on places to rig also. Old snow on the ground with rain is another very tough condition that we get. We have a decent population here but weather on the east side is our biggest challenge. Not many guys even hunt around here unless we have decent snow. I used to be the same way but now I hunt whenever I can regardless of snow. On the days without snow I rig, road them or walk hunt them and have pretty good success. Montana sounds very similar on the east side west side conditions.

[1bludawg]

SW Oregon can't start to compete with Montana in the cold department but when it gets below freezing i don't box my dogs i road them.I think to much of them to put them up there in those conditions.One more thing,don't get caught up in the numbers game.Some of what you hear is true,some isn't but i can guarantee one thing when you stop worrying about how many cat Mr Perfect caught with his super dogs you'll have a lot more fun.

[scottb]

Not looking to get anyone fired up, just looking for some critical thinking or something like that. My 1st post I wrote 4 districts, I meant "regions." Cats are no different than deer or elk, you have to hunt them where they are. If I have 30,000 acres wrapped up for elk hunting and there are no elk on the ranch my elk hunting will be terrible. dhostetler, I can't say I have ever asked anyone if they consistently rig and catch bobs so right now I don't know that anyone does. I just have an issue with the term "impossible" because it sounds like it was impossible to rig cats in several areas and states until it wasn't impossible. Based on what I have seen my dogs do with the limited time I can hunt them I think it has to be possible. March has been my best month of cat hunting the last 3 years. Dec. is rough because of all the steel in the ground. 2 years ago in 3 days of hunting my dogs rigged and ran 5 bobs, treeing 4 and 1 more jumped and treed walking off of a tree. I have had them rig a scratch/toilet in 85 degree heat in August. My dogs are not rock stars and I am not a special handler. Time and $ is the only reason it doesn't happen consistently in my opinion. MT is big and diverse no doubt, hunting styles need to adapt to areas for success. Incidentaly, the few hound hunters I talk with rarely if ever talk #'s, they talk about the fun.

[1bludawg]

Scott,i was speaking in general terms and not about you .You haven't said anything that is unreasonable.I do hate to see the younger guys start worrying about how many they should catch because there are so many variables and it can spoil the fun.

[dhostetler]

If had hounds that rigged and treed 5 bobcats in 3 days I would think I had rock stars. Maybe I need to explore more of the state. We have a high population of lynx in our area and I always wondered if they are hard on the bobcat population. In visiting with the feds doing one of there countless lynx studies, they told me the main predator on lynx is lions, so I wonder if both lynx and lions might prey on bobcats???
I also am not that hung up on numbers, high numbers in cat hunting usually all depends on the amount of time you have to hunt.